Strawberry Moon
by Firephly
Summary: Post Season 6 Alternate Summer Adventure for GilesWillow - and their new magical connection - WIP - New Chapters Posted as soon as they are ready.
1. Forgiveness

**Chapter 1: Forgiveness**

Willow's copper brows knitted together again as a tear rolled down her freckled cheek. Curled into herself on Buffy's sofa, she couldn't meet the eyes of the man she brought within an inch of his life.   
  
He stood before her with concern washed across his features. He had come here to save her, to save his dear little Willow, knowing that he might die. And now she was safe, but at what cost...to her soul, to their friendship. Uncomfortable, not knowing what to say, he pulled off his glasses and cleaned them even though they were already immaculate. Finally he took a deep breath, summoning his courage, and knelt down to break the silence.   
  
Willow looked up, almost as if surprised to see him. He shouldn't be here, she thought numbly. _There's no going back from what I've done. I've ruined everything_. Another tear rolled down her slick cheek.  
  
To her amazement, a course hand came up to wipe that cheek...a course hand that was connected to understanding eyes. Not disappointed eyes. Relieved eyes. _Relieved?_ The numbness began to ebb from the red headed one. _How can he still care? After all I did to him? After the pain I..._her eyes drifted back to the carpet. A gentle force under her chin forced her to look up again, to her Giles. And he whispered to her,  
  
"I forgive you."

Her shimmering eyes spilled over as her face crumbled and a tortured sob escaped her. Warm, strong arms surrounded her fragile frame as she wracked with grief.  
  
"It going to be alright," his accented voice soothed in rhythm to his hand, which lightly rubbed her back. Her pain began to seep into him and soon they were both clinging to each other for equal comfort. He had almost lost her. He felt so foolish for thinking that he could just come back and make everything OK. And some of the last things he had said to her before he went back to England had been so cruel.   
  
The sound of a door closing upstairs jarred him back to his senses, senses that were suddenly becoming confused by the strawberry sweetness if Willow's scent. His arms still around her, her sobs subsiding, he found himself with his eyes closed inhaling deeply. He slowly released her and held her at an arms length. _Life is complicated enough, he chided himself.  
  
Her round eyes rose to meet his. She knew that she didn't deserve anything that he had to offer her, especially forgiveness. She could have sworn for a second though that he...no, never mind._

She looked into his eyes for a hint of what he was really thinking and all she saw was warmth.

Her auburn locks swung from side to side as she quickly turned her head towards the thump, thump, thump, thump, thump of Xander bounding his way down the stairs. An inaudible sigh passed her lips as Giles eased slowly off the floor and into the adjacent chair. She knew that the moment was broken and distracted herself with the comforting light of her best friend's boyish face as it leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. 

"How's my brave little toaster," he ruffled her hair. 

"Burnt extra crispy" the corners of her mouth curled into a half smile despite the lack of joy in her eyes. 

Giles leaned back in the chair and watched the scene silently as the two of them exchanged a subdued version of their usual witty banter. He couldn't believe how many changes Willow's been though over the past 6 years. From the charming high school brain to the powerful witch that she'd become, he knew that the core Willow he'd always loved was still there. He could see it in those luminescent green eyes that Xander had restored from the disturbing black. 

He looked down at her delicate hand that was lying inches from his own and smiled at the mere fact that it was there. She was there. She was safe. He covered it with his own and squeezed it lightly, protocol be damned.  

Willow's heart quickened as she felt his warm fingers wrap around her own. As their skin connected, the sexual tension they had ignored for the past 6 years surged in both of their veins. A new connection had formed between them when she had taken his power. Now she could feel his desire layered over her own. She squeezed back, almost a death grip of desperation, not wanting him to let go.

Her voice was deceptively light has she chatted with Xander but her breath betrayed her with its quickness. It was like a secret that Giles was holding her hand, only not, because it was right there for anyone to see. _Doesn't Xander see? How can't he see?_

Prompted by the odd expression on Willow's face, Xander's eyes suddenly shifted and he did notice. Normally it wouldn't have fazed him that Giles was comforting his best friend, but he knew on a deeper level that something different was going on here. Well alrighty then, his eyes widened. _Time for the Xand-man to make a will timed exit. _

"Man, saving the world can sure make a guy hungry. You want anything Will?"

The last thing on her mind was eating.

"Uh, no thanks, Xander."

"How 'bout you G-man?"

Giles looked up, distracted. He, too, had felt the jolt that passed between himself and Willow. 

"What?"

"Nevermind," Xander grinned and left them alone. As he walked out of the living room he was puzzled by his own lack of jealousy. A few years ago he would've been completely freaked…but not today.

Giles slid back to the floor without breaking the chain of contact. He was overwhelmed with a feeling that he couldn't put to words. All at once he felt protective, possessive, possessed, joyous, terrified, impossibly old, impossibly young, and probably out of his bloody mind. But it all faded from his mind as she met his gaze. It was her resolve face he saw for a long moment before she lifted his hand in hers and placed it back on her cheek. The rise and fall of her chest matched his own breathing. He leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers,

"Oh Willow, what are we doing?"

After a long tortured moment, Willow slowly pushed Giles away. 

"After all that I did to you, how can you still want to be anywhere near me?" her voice was barely a whisper.

"Well, I've been through worse."

She traced the wound on his forehead that she had given him. 

"I'm gay you know," she didn't even sound convincing to herself. 

"Oh really," a look of amusement lit his face, "Is that why your heart is beating as fast as mine?"

His husky accented voice caused hers to beat faster. Her brows came together in confusion. So much had happened over that past few days that couldn't be ignored. Panicked, she didn't know if she had the strength to resist using magic. And the thought of hurting Giles again… and she loved Tara…she barely held back the grief as it built again. 

He could practically see the thoughts on her face and wished he could comfort her somehow, just hold her in his arms and make it all better. But he knew that her wounds were too fresh. She wasn't ready to go down this road with him. Reluctantly, he pulled away from her touch. _Besides, he chided himself, _she's half my age. __

Suddenly, Willow's flushed cheeks drained of all color and her breath caught in her throat. Giles turned his head and the color drained from his face too.

Tara stood on the lawn outside the living room window. Beautifully transparent, she wisped through the wood and glass into the house. It was almost like she wasn't there, but her voice was as real and solid as it had been days before. 

"Willow you have to come quickly. There's no time to explain. I need you to trust me," her shadowy visage slipped back through the wall to the font yard and beckoned Willow with a wave of the hand. 

Her heart now hammering, Willow jumped up from the couch and bolted for the front door, Giles not far behind. 


	2. Unfinished Business

**Chapter 2: Unfinished Business******

The front door flew open on its own allowing Willow to run out into the yard. His heart lurched as Giles realized that Willow unconsciously used magic to make the door fly open. _This can't be happening_ he cursed as he ran after her. She couldn't be allowed to use her magic again. It was hard enough to stop her the last time. He stopped short at the scene in the front yard. 

The see-through Tara stood on the lawn next to a portal. It looked like a black rectangle of nothingness, almost like a door. Tara floated into the portal, gestured again for Willow to follow her, and disappeared. Heedless of the possible danger, Willow ran toward the void, fully intent on following her love. 

"Willow, stop!" Giles commanded with panic in his voice as he ran to grab her. She paused for a moment at the sound of his voice and glanced back at him. She had tears streaming down her freckled cheeks. For a moment Giles was relieved that she had listened to him for once. But then he saw pain wash over her face again right before she turned away from him. She walked purposefully towards the portal. "No," he whispered to himself. He sprinted towards her, but he knew that he wouldn't catch up with her in time to stop her. Instead, he hurled himself at the portal, hoping to at least go with her if he couldn't stop her. 

He tumbled through space unknown to him for an indefinite time. He lost all track of physical sensation, time, Willow, and himself. There was no thought where he was, only the notion of motion, of traveling. Suddenly his senses were jarred to life as he landed hard on the scorched ground. At first, he focused only on drawing breath back into his lungs. It took him a moment to soak in his surroundings. With a jolt he knew where he was…Kingman's Bluff.  The satanic temple loomed over him like a menacing creature. Then he noticed Willow lying on the ground a few feet away.  She was conscious and beginning to stir. 

Tara floated over to Willow with a look of worry on her face,

"Willow are you ok?" Willow nodded with a grimace. "Honey, you need to get up. We don't have much time." Willow struggled to her feet. 

"Tara, are you…" tears slipped down her cheeks, "I mean…" She mumbled derisively to herself, "God, what a lame question. Of course you're not ok."

"You need to seal the rift you created when you tried to summon Proserpexa," Tara held a transparent hand next to Willows cheek. Willow shivered at the cold sensation. She didn't sense a rift, but Tara always did have a stronger sense of when the world was out of balance. 

Willow's mind raced to think of how to close this type of rift. She wasn't sure. Normally she would do research at the magic shop, but she had absorbed the knowledge of most of those books, and she still had no idea. She tried to think through the problem. 

 "I don't know how to close the rift Tara, do you?" she ached at seeing Tara so close yet untouchable.

"Yes," she nodded. "I need you to repeat a chant after me. I don't have any more effect on this world because I'm beyond it now. You need to say the words and let the magic flow through your mortal body." At this Giles pushed himself up off the ground and addressed the two women. 

"Willow, you cannot do this. You cannot use magic anymore. It's too dangerous," he commanded with a frown. Tara interjected,

"It won't hurt her Giles. I won't let it." She sounded so sincere to him. He battled his uncertainty.  Of course he didn't want to endanger the world, but he knew somehow that Willow needed to avoid magic at all costs. 

"I will do the spell," he declared. 

"You can't," Tara shook her ghostly head, "Only Willow has the power to finish this." Willow stood next to her shaking. Giles could see the indecision that surrounded her. Willow closed her eyes, hoping that the answer of what to do would come to her. She didn't want to hurt anyone else. Not again. Not ever. 

Willow, shaking, turned to Giles with a look of desperation and choked her words out,

"I don't…know what…to do…" He could barely stand the anguish in her voice. He didn't know any more than she did. But she trusted him and he couldn't let her down. His brain raced, trying to sort out the events of the past few minutes. Something wasn't quite right, and he tried to put his finger on it. Tara interrupted his thoughts. 

"Willow, there's no time. If you don't close the rift now it will be too late." Giles couldn't give Willow a concrete reason not to close the rift. He hoped she could handle this brief dance with magic and still be able to find her way back to herself. That was the greatest danger, that she will be lost again. 

"It seems as if we don't have a choice Willow," he laid a protective hand on her arm. She took a deep breath, nodded bravely, and walked in front of the temple, comforted to have his approval. 

Tara stood next to her, eager to begin the closure. 

"The chant is in an ancient form of Sumerian. Repeat after me…gortha oo la ba, hay ayn doo ja len da Proserpexa …"

"gortha oo la ba, hay ayn doo ja len da Proserpexa," Willow's voice grew stronger with each syllable. Giles noted with a small measure of pride that he knew this dialect. He started to translate to himself. ~~We beseech you to rise, our wretched queen Proserpexa…~~ He frowned and took only a moment to understand the gravity of what was happening. 

"Willow," his low tone stopped her in mid sentence. 

"Giles?" her adrenaline pumped from the magic that had begun to course through her, but more so from the look of hatred Giles was giving Tara. His voice growled with menace,

"Step away from her. She's not Tara."

"What?" Willow looked back and forth from Tara to Giles and back again. 

Tara took a tentative step forwards.

"G-g-giles, what are you talking about?" She played a convincing game, but there was no disputing the translation of the chant.

"Willow, I know that you don't want to hear this," he understood her pain, "but that thing is not Tara. Those were words of resurrection, not binding." A memory flooded him, "Willow, do you remember when those ghosts haunted the high school. I thought it was Jenny's spirit, trying to make contact. I couldn't see clearly, but you could. You made me see the truth…Well, you have to trust **me this time. This time, I know the truth. This is not your Tara. Whatever she is, she's not here to close any rift." He searched her eyes for a glimpse of her thoughts.**

Willow slowly backed away from the shimmering form of Tara, her lips pressed together so hard that they turn white. Giles could see that she was battling disbelief with loss with wrath. 

"Who are you?" Willow's voice was now the dangerous one. Giles could feel her energy crackling in the air. The form of Tara morphed into a hideous long-eared she-beast with a menacing voice all its own,

"How dare you interfere," it shot a current of green electricity at Giles' head. He was ready though, and dove to the ground, narrowly escaping the deadly bolt.

"Giles!" Willow started towards the fallen Watcher, but suddenly stopped and reeled around to face the beast. "Who are you," she demanded. 

"Don't you know, foolish girl?" 

"Why don't you make it easy for me?" a shade of sarcasm seeped into Willow's voice. She instantly regretted it though, as the demon straightened to its full height, magic crackling all around. 

"Oh, it won't be easy," a magic tendril reached out and wrapped around Willows neck. "You summoned me witch. Now you will finish what you started. I am Proserpexa."

Giles tried to cast a binding spell on the creature, but to no effect. Willow's face was screwed up with pain as the green fingers of electricity squeezed around her neck. He made a split-second decision and moved quickly towards Willow. He grabbed her hand and said in a low voice,

"We need to re-entomb the temple." He grimaced as the green tendrils wrapped around his neck too. "I think that when you raised the temple and started the incantation before, you inadvertently opened a way for Proserpexa to enter partially into this world. She must not be able to take purchase here, which is why her magic is so weak." He gripped her hand tightly though the pain. 

"You call this weak?" she doubled over. The demon's voice cut through,

"You will finish what you started girl, or your man will die." Giles groaned, as the tendrils grew brighter. 

"Don't listen to her Willow. I don't think she has the power to kill either one of us, which is why she needs your help. She only has one foot in this reality. We need to bury the temple now."

"Giles," she cried out in despair, "I don't think I have enough power to do that. I've already used most of what I have…"

"We'll do it together," he squeezed her hand. They began the chant and Proserpexa began to scream with fury. She tried to release more pain into the couple, but faltered as the ground began to quake. Willow and Giles were knocked off their feet but continued to chant. The green electricity lost its hold and surrounded Proserpexa. 

In a last desperate effort, the demon morphed back to the visage of Tara.

 "Willow p-p-please." Willow ignored her. The demon morphed into Jenny, "Rupert, stop this…please." The lying demon's pleas fell on deaf ears and she began to fade. 

After another minute of chanting the wavering image of Proserpexa winked out altogether. Breathing heavily, Willow and Giles both remained on the ground, too exhausted to move. 

"Do you think that did the trick?" Willow looked up at the twilight sky. The stars were just beginning to appear. She felt Giles give her hand a squeeze as he moved to sit up. 

"I certainly hope so," he brushed off his dusty pants. "If not, she can have the damn world. I'm too exhausted to save it again," he grinned and offered his other hand and pulled her up.  


	3. An Unexpected Message

**Chapter 3: An Unexpected Message**

To everyone's relief Willow and Giles walked through Buffy's front door. They looked dirty and tired, but at least they were both in one piece. Buffy, Xander, Dawn, and Anya all jumped up from their seats. 

"What happened to you guys? Dawn saw you both run out the front door," a frowning Buffy looked to Giles and then to Willow. Giles took his dusty glasses off and started cleaning them. 

"It is a rather long story…" he avoided Buffy's glare and glanced at Willow, trying to size up whether he should tell it. Willow stepped in for him. She was so tired that her voice was devoid of all emotion,

"Proserpexa came here, but she looked like Tara. We followed her up to Kingman's bluff. She tried to trick us into bringing her fully into this world. Giles figured it out and we did a spell to lock her back into her dimension."

"I guess it's not that long a story," Giles put his glasses back on. 

"Are you guys OK?" Dawn stepped forward and hugged them both one at a time. They both nodded that they were fine.  Giles was privately relieved to see that Dawn's hug brought a subtle spark of life back to Willow's eyes. 

§

Willow headed up to bed and the rest of the group filed into the kitchen for some hot beverages. Giles gave them some more details of what happened on the bluff. Anya handed Giles a teabag,

"Yeah, Proserpexa was always really cagey, always trying to trick people and steal their powers. No one liked her, even in the demon world." Everyone stared at her. Xander shook his head,

"And you didn't think this was worth mentioning?" 

Anya stiffened. 

"Well I didn't know that Willow brought her partially into this reality, did I?"  Xander stared at her, as her face turned red with embarrassment. "God, Xander! You know, it's a good thing we didn't get married, since I'm constantly the source of your disappointment." she huffed and stalked out of the house, slamming the back door. 

Buffy raised her eyebrows, 

"And on that note…" Everyone left the kitchen and headed to their respective bedrooms and Xander headed home.

§

Giles slipped off his dusty trench coat and stretched out on the couch. He lay awake for a long time thinking about Willow. He thought of her silky copper hair and smiled to himself. As much as he knew that now was not the time or the place, he couldn't help but find joy in the realization that he loved her. He'd denied it for so long. Now that he admitted it to himself, he felt a comforting sense of peace. He drifted off to sleep still thinking about the softness of Willow's cheek against his palm. 

§

The following morning, Giles sat on the bench in Buffy's yard and sipped on a cup of tea. He pondered what he was going to do now that he had finished what he came here to do. He had just started to rebuild his life back in England. But here…here was another world that was his. He didn't know if he had the strength to leave them all again. 

He was startled out of his reverie as Willow sat down next to him. 

"Where is everyone?" she asked. 

"They went on a hunt…for donuts I believe," he smirked.

She stared out into the lawn, a look of serenity on her face. She looked like a different Willow than the one he had said goodnight to. _What has changed,_ he wondered. As if she could read his thoughts, she began speaking,

"I spoke with Tara last night." 

His glance sharpened.

"What do you mean?" he tried to keep the disbelief from his voice. 

"When I was sleeping, my dream," she met his eyes, "Tara came to me. She had some important things to tell me. I know what you're thinking Giles, but I'm not delusional about this." He looked back into her eyes and saw Willow with a calm sense of purpose he'd never seen in her before. 

"Alright then," he looked back into the yard at nothing in particular, "what did she say?"

"That you love me."

His heart stopped in his throat. 

He sat in silence and waited for her to continue. His gaze was steadfast on the surprisingly fascinating lawn, but he could see her watching him out of the corner of his eye. Willow watched his Adam's apple move up and then down as he swallowed. She took a deep breath and continued. 

"We can talk about that in a minute, but there's something else we need to talk about first."

"Yes?" he nearly sagged with relief. 

"Tara came to me on a mission from the Powers That Be. This even sounds weird to me, but it's true. After she…died…she was called into service by the Powers. I'm not surprised, really. There was always something special about Tara…something wiser." Willow paused, letting Giles process this new information. 

"Yes, she did have a special quality." He gave a wistful smile. "I'm not surprised either. But she was on a mission?" Willow let a moment pass, seemingly gathering her thoughts, and then began to explain.

"I was her first mission. She came to explain something very important to me, something that I think is very important for you to understand too." She looked into his eyes to make sure she has his attention. She did. He was riveted to hear what she had to say.

"I know the things I've done recently have been wrong. And I'm not just saying this to appease you or anyone else. I've been using magic for my own gain, and that allowed something sinister to enter my mind. After a while, I wasn't there anymore. I'm not sure what or who it was, but it wasn't me. You, if no one else, know the difference between black and white magic. The magic I was using, although it made me feel more powerful, took me away from myself."

Giles did know the difference. He barely escaped from that kind of power himself. He watched her quiet confidence as she continued to explain why Tara had come. 

"Tara came to remind me of the reason I chose to stay in Sunnydale…because I wanted to fight evil, to help people. She explained how the magic is a part of me, the white magic. And she's right. I can feel in my bones how right she is."

"But Willow, you can't use magic…you can't control it."

"You're wrong Giles," she said as gently as she could. "Before, when I promised Tara that I wasn't going to use magic at all, I never noticed, but she didn't necessarily agree with me. She remained silent. She knew that I had to learn on my own how to find balance within myself. 

"The reason I was having such a hard time was because I was denying an integral part of myself. It's not that I need to stop using magic, it's that I need to start using it to help people. I've been using it to help myself. And that's what needs to stop." She searched his eyes to gauge his level of understanding. He asked her a fair question,

"What makes you think that you can use the white without the black? How do you know you won't be tempted?" He wanted to believe her.

"I will be tempted Giles, I'm not going to lie to you. It's going to be hard. But I know now that I have an important role to play here. I was so devastated when Tara died. I convinced myself that my life didn't have any meaning at all without her. But that's the lie. And Tara came to me to tell me that." Giles sat in silence and thought hard about all the things Willow has said. He realized that his instinct was to trust in her, and his instinct had usually served him well. 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he desperately wanted to see her remain black-eye free. She took his hand in hers. 

"Do you love me Giles?"

He looked over to her and was at a loss. He didn't know what the right thing to do was. He remained silent, but his quickened breath betrayed him. She squeezed his hand. 

"Even though it wasn't part of her mission from the Powers, Tara had another message for me. She told me that we all love many people in our lives in many different ways. She told me that…" Willow blushed a little, which he found charming. "That it's OK, for…well, you know, for us to…" she trailed off. 

"Is that what you want?" his voice was barely audible. He desperately feared her answer. She didn't answer for a long moment, but still held his hand. Then she summoned the courage to continue the conversation. 

"Actually, I want more," she gently released his hand. 

"More?" He fought his excited confusion and saw her blush.

"What I mean is…" she struggled to put her feelings to words. "This isn't an issue of whether I'm attracted to you Giles. I've always…" she trailed off and blushed even more, if that was possible. "It's that I've known you for six years…probably the most exciting 6 years of my life. And even after all this time, I don't really know anything about you."

He saw the truth of that. He'd always tried so hard to keep his personal life separate from his Watcher duties. Even though he wasn't a Watcher any more, he still kept up the wall. And now it seemed that Willow wanted in. And frankly, that terrified him. 

"Well, my life's not all that interesting," he said lamely. Her brows rose. "Well not really." 

"That's what I mean Giles. You never let me in. And I can't let myself…fall in love with someone who can't share themselves with me," she looked away at a random bush. She felt him stand up. 

He crossed a piece of the small lawn and cleaned his glasses as he tried to think about what was happening. He knew that he couldn't let himself shut her out, but he wasn't so sure that he could let the wall fall. He turned back to Willow and his face softened at her amazingly beautiful face that was looking at him expectantly. 

"I can try," he managed and walked over to her. "What would you like to know?" 

"You could tell me about Bridget," Willow's swallow was the only betrayal to her calm face. For a moment he was alarmed, but then yielded. Life on the Hellmouth always brought him the unexpected. 

"How do you know about Bridget?"

"Tara told me, last night. She said that Bridget is going to contact you and that you'll go to Boston to help her with something. And Tara also said that I'm supposed to go with you. She wasn't very clear on the details. I don't think she knew. She just said that I need to go with you because you're going to need my help…and because Bridget is going to help me learn to control my power."

Giles took a moment to deal with this new information, and decided to tell Willow everything…well, almost everything. 

"Bridget is one of the witches of the coven that imbued me with their powers so that I could help you. The coven needed to unanimously decide to help me, and Bridget was the only one who was originally opposed."

"Oh," she looked a little taken aback. That wasn't the explanation she expected. 

"Well, she relented, after a little convincing. After that, she participated in the transmigration of their powers, and I came directly here. But I can't see how she could be in Boston. I just left them yesterday, and as far I know she didn't have any plans to come to the states.  Tara must have been-" The ring of the telephone floating through the open kitchen door cut off Giles. He and Willow headed into the kitchen and Giles grabbed the phone on the fourth ring.

"Hallo?" 

"Rupert, is that you?" 

"Bridget…" he knew it was her even without her confirmation. There was a pause on the other end of the phone. 

"How did you know it was me?" her voice was wary. He could hear traffic in the background static, as if she were calling from a payphone. 

"The Powers That Be sent me a little message," he shook his head in disbelief of his circumstances. "Are you alright?" 

"No, not even remotely. I need you and I need you now. How soon can you get on a plane to Boston?" her no-nonsense tone ruled the conversation. 

"Well, let me check my calendar…um save the world, no that was yesterday…I guess it looks like I'm free," he smirked. He had heard Buffy say that once, and he'd gotten a good chuckle out of it then. Bridget however didn't find his humor amusing. 

Willow watched as Giles' smile turned to a frown. His brows pulled together as he listened to the woman on the other end of the phone. Finally, he placed the handle into the cradle and took a deep breath. 

"It looks like we're going to Boston," he declared. 


	4. Boston

**Chapter 4: Boston**

Willow stood in the crowded airport terminal with her arm wrapped protectively around her stomach. She rose up on her tiptoes looking for Giles. She was beginning to regret their decision to divide and conquer. He was going to arrange for the car rental while she picked up their bags. But she had gotten the bags and had been standing there for a good 20 minutes with no sign of him.  The announcement speaker above her head chirped on and made her jump.

"Now boarding flight 187 to Baltimore at gate 11D. Rows 25-30 may board at this time." 

She chided herself, 22 years living on the Hellmouth and a loud speaker makes me jumpy. Trying to settle her ruffled feathers, she scanned the crowd again, looking for the handsome tall man with brown hair and glasses. There he was. She spotted him fighting the current of people. A smile lit her face as she watched him, mildly flustered, making his way slowly across the terminal.

She half dragged their heavy suitcases and met him half way. 

"I thought you might have been attacked by a car rental demon," she smirked, catching her breath.  

"Not quite," he adjusted his glasses and took his suitcase from her. "Although that woman may bloody well have been a demon," he frowned and examined the receipt. "I think she overcharged me."

"We should call the gang," the red head changed the subject and headed for a nearby pay phone. "Let them know we're safe and sound."

 "I don't know that I would call us safe at the moment," he mumbled to himself. 

"I heard that," she turned and leveled him with a look, which he returned with a raised brow. 

"Well I will feel a lot better when Bridget decides to grace us with the details of what's going on here. I very much dislike coming into the unknown."

"Oh, where's your sense of adventure Giles?" she teased. Her fingers sped across phone's number pad.

"I left it back in England apparently."  He recalled a time in his life when he was thirsting for adventure. Now all he wanted was a quiet moment where he and Willow could… He forced himself back to reality. At least she had come with him to Boston, alone. The others had stamped their collective feet wanting to come and fight evil somewhere new and exciting. 

Luckily none of them could afford to make the trip, which created a convenient argument that he could only afford to bring Willow. He justified bringing Willow because she needed training from an experienced witch on how to control her power. He wondered if his hidden agenda was obvious to Willow or the others. 

"Dawnie?…yeah it's me, can you put Buffy on?" Willow's eyes stared off blankly as she talked into the mouthpiece. "Buffy? Hi!….yeah, we're fine, no hijackings or anything." 

Giles shot her an alarmed stare at her use of the word 'hijacking' in an airport. As her faced turned crimson, she lowered her voice considerably and shrunk into the phone booth. 

"Well, I don't know the number yet, but I'll call you as soon as we know where we're staying. Ok…..Yup…..what?…..Buffy!" her face reddened even more as her eyes flickered to Giles. "I'm hanging up now…ok….mm hmm…bye." She hung up the phone and gathered her composure.

"Did she have anything pertinent to say?" He knew he was making her squirm and was selfishly enjoying it. Apparently, based on what he assumed of Buffy's side of the conversation, he wasn't as subtle as he'd hoped. But that was OK. He sighed. He knew Buffy would figure in out sooner or later. She could be disturbingly perceptive at times.

"Nothing…pertinent," her eyes met his in a moment that made both of their hearts skip a beat. "I told her that we would call when we know where we're staying." He stared at the freckles on the bridge of her nose. She was so damn beautiful. 

A sharp poke in his side jolted him out of his reverie. 

"Oww…" he turned to see Bridget's impish face looking up at time. 

"It's about damn time," she frowned and tossed her magnificent waist length chestnut hair over her slim shoulder. 

Willow forced herself to close her gaping mouth at the gorgeous woman who stood before her. Even under the harsh florescent lighting of the airport, she turned most of the heads that walked by. She had amazingly luscious curves in all the right places, and her blue eyes sparkled with a supernatural light. Amazingly, she seemed oblivious to this. Willow guessed her to be in her late 20's, although her eyes held a wizened look of someone much older. 

"So sorry to put you out," Giles voice held a sarcasm Willow had only heard him use with Xander.

"Well aren't you in a dandy mood Rupert. And so polite," she sparred back, untouched by his sarcasm. She held her hand out to Willow, "I'm Bridget Carrington, and you must be Willow." Her statement didn't leave much room for reply. 

"Hi," was all she managed as their hands came together in a soft grip. Willow almost thought she felt the tingle of magic in her palm as they touched. 

"It's the transference," Bridget said as if the meaning of this statement were obvious. When both Willow and Giles returned blank stares, she huffed through her big pouty lips and explained. "When you stole some of the coven's magic from Rupert, we became bonded. We are all bonded now, you, me, Rupert, and all the other members of the coven."

Giles' brow creased as he considered this for the first time. 

"What effects will that have on all of us?" He hadn't thought there would be a lasting effect.

"I don't know," she turned and began to walk away. Willow and Giles quickly scrambled to pick up their bags and follow her. She spoke over her shoulder as she made her way through the crowd, "But whatever the effects are, I damn well hope that they can help us here. The situation is most dire." 

§

Willow struggled with her insecurities. She wasn't even sure how she felt about Giles, but the sudden appearance of this beautiful powerful woman brought out a jealousy in her that surprised her. Her short red locks hung limply against her scalp, unkempt from the long flight. She felt silly in her wrinkled sweater top and long skirt. Bridget looked elegant as her hips swayed in her immaculate black leather miniskirt. Her long legs ended in short leather boots that matched her skirt. And her breasts bounced slightly in her tight black top, just enough to draw the eyes of everyone, including Willow. Aside from jealousy she also felt a sudden attraction.  This woman held a presence that oozed with sensuality. 

§

Giles walked beside Willow, suddenly distraught. He hadn't even considered that Willow might be attracted to Bridget. Of course he knew that Bridget was an incredibly sexy woman, despite her damn frustrating personality. But he had overlooked the fact that Willow was indeed attracted to women on occasion. He didn't blame her really as he watched Willow staring openly at Bridget's sultry backside. But jealousy surged through him so strongly that he had to force it down to a manageable level.  He battled the urge to grab Bridget aside and threaten her with harm if she even took a step in Willow's direction. He sighed again knowing that he didn't he have any right to judge or control Willow's choice in lovers.


	5. New England

**Chapter 5: New England**

Bridget sat in the front of the rental instructing Giles to turn here and there. He was completely befuddled by the street of Boston. They were nearly as confusing as the back roads of Central London. He knew he wouldn't be able to remember any of the roads for the return trip. She guided him out of the city and about an hour south to the town of Bridgewater. 

Willow was a little disappointed to discover that Bridgewater looked a lot like Sunnydale. She thought that Massachusetts would hold some colonial exoticness. She shook her head at her ignorance.

At Bridget's direction Giles swung the rental onto what was barely passable as a road. The crumbled pavement quickly yielded to dirt. Nature closed in all around them and branches lightly brushed the sides and top of the car.  

Giles remained silent during the ride. He knew enough of Bridget's personality to know that she wouldn't tell them what was going on until she was good and ready. 

A half mile later, an enormous house rose up in front of them.  Willow leaned forward, surprised to see such a gem of a house hidden within the woods. It seemed out of time. Unlike the wooden and vinyl sided houses of the small town, the mansion was constructed of stone and rock.  Actually, it looked like a castle.

Giles pulled the car to a halt and gaped at the enormous structure,

"What it in the world…" he stepped out of the car and stared at the building as it changed shape before his very eyes. Three of the top-level windows disappeared completely as a tower sprouted from one if the far corners. 

"Oh calm down Rupert, that's just Grandmother redecorating."

"You mean this isn't what we're here to help you fix?" he continued to stare at the strange house.

"Heavens no," she said as if he were asking a ridiculous question. "This is just where we are staying. Grandmother always needs her castle with her whenever she travels."

"Never leave home without it," Willow said under her breath. Giles shot her an appreciative grin. Even though she looked tired and a little wilted from traveling he still couldn't take his eyes off her. Yes, Bridget could turn most men's heads, but Willow had such a profound effect on him – physically and mentally – that Bridget was all but invisible.

They dragged their bags through the giant front door, into the castle.  Bridget, and her leather hips, led them through a maze of doors and hallways into a cozy room with a fireplace, several sofas, and an elderly woman that sat quietly sipping from a tumbler. 

There was no doubt that she was the infamous Grandmother. Her blue eyes sparkled eerily like Bridget's. 

"Grandmother, this is Rupert Giles and Willow Rosenberg."

"Pleasure to meet you," Giles extended her a hand, which was ignored. He lowered his hand and internally rolled his eyes, _it must be in the genes. _

"Please sit down you two," she addressed them in a strong no-nonsense voice. Willow and Giles shared a quick look and complied, sitting together on the nearest sofa. "Bridget, please pour us all something to drink."

"Tea-" she began to ask when the old woman cut her off. 

"Tonight is no night for tea Bridget. I think we all will be needing libations. Bourbon on the rocks," she held out her empty glass. "In fact, make mine a double."

Bridget quickly poured the alcohol into four glasses. Giles thanked Bridget for the drink and took a hearty sip. He felt a little calmer and slightly bolder as it burned, trickling down his throat. 

"What exactly is the situation here, Mrs.…?" he let the question hang. He wasn't about to call her Grandmother. 

"Patience Mr. Giles is a virtue that, in my long years on this Earth, has proven to be a valued quality. You obviously have none." She clucked her tongue in disapproval. "Bridget, I thought you said he was a smart one." 

Willow wasn't fooled by this woman's faux persnicketiness. She could see the glimmer in those blue eyes. The old woman was having a ball toying with Giles. With her back straight, and her confidence in her assessment of the woman, Willow tossed back a mouthful of the drink. She immediately began choking as the fumes burned her throat and her nostrils. 

"Not as worldly as you think you are Miss Rosenberg," the grandmother raised a white eyebrow. 

Willow attempted to gather the shreds of her dignity, swallowing the rest of the mouthful of bourbon. Her flushed face slowly returned to its normal pallor. She hated this woman already, but she tried to push the feeling down so that the witch wouldn't detect that. No doubt she already had. 

"Mr. Giles, I am Bridget's maternal grandmother, Mrs. Eliza Bennett," she offered. The drink was obviously having a positive effect on her annoying coyness. Giles stood up and poured himself another glass and offered her the same. "Thank you," she held out her empty glass. 

As he poured the smooth amber liquid into the tumbler his mind raced. He felt nearly on the verge of sensory overload. He found the warm room almost stuffy, and the fire that burned in is stomach from the bourbon caused a few beads of sweat on his forehead. And sitting next to Willow on the love seat was incredible distracting, with her leg resting against his. 

He smiled surreptitiously, thinking about her trying to drink a mouthful of bourbon for the first time. Her innocence could be quite endearing. He offered Willow a re-fill. She paled slightly and shook her head, covering the top of the glass with her hands.  He quickly turned away to place the decanter back on the beverage cart as his small smile erupted into a full on grin. He wanted so badly to just take her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her. _But now is not the time, _he chided himself as he sat back down beside her. He tried to ignore her warmth as it seeped through his pant leg. He took another long swallow of the fiery liquid. 

"Mrs. Bennett, what can we do for you?" he got right to the point. She stared at him for a moment, as if sizing him up. In her 78 years of experience she considered herself an expert at reading people. This Mr. Giles seemed to be a good man. His love for the girl was obvious, but shouldn't cause a problem for what they needed to accomplish. In fact, his passion would probably help if the situation became desperate. 

But the girl…it disturbed her that she couldn't read the girl. There was more to that one than meets the eye. Eliza could see the powerful aura of energy around Willow. Frankly, she was a little intimidated. She had never seen one so young able to control that kind of power, but they needed someone of her strength if they were going to succeed. And the girl seemed to be in control of it now. She would just have to ensure that Bridget found some time to train the girl on controlling her power. She would be a powerful ally if they could train her to push back the dark magicks. 

"Alright Mr. Giles, I'm sure you've had a long day, so I'll get to the point," she sipped her drink and continued, "I know that we've never met, as such, but I am also a member of the Devon Coven. I don't often make it to the gatherings and rituals because of my advanced years," she looked hard at him as if challenging him to disagree that she was advanced in years. When he didn't reply, she continued, "but never-the-less I am still a member of the coven.

"One of our own, Hailey Edwards, has betrayed the coven."

Bridget gasped from across the room. Willow and Giles looked to her with surprise.

"You didn't know," Giles felt a pang of sympathy for her.

"No," she shot an accusing look at her grandmother. "What are you talking about," she demanded. Eliza hadn't wanted to keep this from Bridget either, but sometimes these things were necessary. 

"Hailey fell in with a sizable dark coven from a city nearby here called Taunton. I didn't tell you because I needed you to focus on your task of gathering these two and the other members of our coven," she put on her no-nonsense voice. She didn't have time to placate Bridget tonight. Bridget recognized the tone in her grandmother's voice and backed off. Once Eliza was satisfied that everyone was ready to listen again, she revealed more of the situation,

"This new coven is trying to create a Hellmouth somewhere in the area. I've heard that they will be performing their ritual in 3 days when the moon is new. That's when our power will be the weakest and theirs will be the strongest."

"But you don't know where they're planning to do this?" Giles adjusted his glasses, feeling the growing adrenaline from danger. 

"No, and I'm not sure that we are powerful enough to stop them," she looked into his eyes with intensity. "That's why I've had Bridget gather all of the living members of the coven here in Bridgewater. We need all the help we can muster Mr. Giles."

Willow frowned with concentration, trying to think of what it would take to create a Hellmouth. She remembered a few things from some of the books from the magic shop.

She mumbled to herself,

"It would have to be a place where there's already been mystical activity. Enough to weaken the veil between worlds…" she didn't notice that the others were staring at her as she puzzled through the problem. "Most likely it would be underground," she frowned again and looked up at the faces staring at her, "Why are we here in Bridgewater? I don't sense that this is the place where they're going to do this mojo."

"Very perceptive Willow," Eliza began to understand why this girl was so special. Not only did she have the gift, which leant her a higher instinct, she was also incredibly smart even without the gift. "Bridget's mother lives here in Bridgewater."

Giles knew that Bridget's mother had been out of her life for a long time. He glanced at her, trying to read her expression. Her face had been a mask of blankness since her initial reaction of shock over Hailey. 

"She hasn't been active in the coven in over 20 years. But she was the strongest of all of us at that time. I'm hoping that Bridget will be able to convince her to help us with this."

Giles frowned,

"What makes you think that she'll help?"

Eliza leaned back and knocked back the rest of her drink,

"Well, if she doesn't help and we fail – she, her new family, and everyone she knows here will be brutally killed when the demons swarm out of the Hellmouth."


	6. First Lesson

**Chapter 6: First Lesson**

Giles walked down a long hallway of the castle's third floor and tried to gain control of his temper. That damn intolerable woman was going to get someone killed. He had reluctantly gone with her to Bridgewater State College to make contact with Bridget's mother, Claire. The entire event had been a fiasco. 

Of course she had insisted on driving, but neglected to yield to the American rules of driving on the right side of the road. Giles was convinced that they were going to die right then and there as a garbage truck narrowly missed hitting them straight on. 

Then, once they reached the college, she somehow managed to offend every person they asked for help. It took them hours to track Claire down. And once they did, Claire passed out cold from the shock of seeing her mother in her office. Eliza managed to browbeat him into carrying Claire to the car, so that they could bring her back to the castle.

He had left both women in the parlor downstairs just as Claire began to regain consciousness. He didn't want to be any part of dragging that poor woman into this mess. Giles only hoped that Willow's day had been more productive. Bridget had been charged with teaching Willow to control her power. 

As he walked over the plush crimson hallway carpet he began to hear voices echoing at the end of the hall. The last heavy door on the left was open just enough so that he could see both woman sitting on the Oriental rug. With their legs crossed, they faced each other with closed eyes. He could see the stiffness in Willow's posture and hear the impatience in Bridget's tone. 

"The white magic feels different than the dark magic. Try to feel the difference."

"I'm trying," Willow's tone was becoming defensive. She opened her eyes and sighed heavily. 

"I've been trying all the live-long day Bridget. It's no use. I don't know what I'm feeling for." 

Bridget's long lashes fluttered open and her mouth frowned in frustration. Giles pushed the door open a little wider. When it didn't creak, he made a small noise in his throat to announce his presence.  Both women looked up and seemed relieved for the distraction. 

"Hey Giles," Willow smiled at him, which caused his heart to jump a little. He returned the smile. 

"Having a hard time of it?" 

She frowned and stood up, wiping off the seat of her corduroys. 

"And I thought I knew practically everything there was to know about magic." 

Bridget stood up too, not acknowledging Willow's self-derisive comment. 

"We might need your help Rupert," she looked at him with seriousness. "I could do it, but I think it would be better if you did it." Giles looked at her questioningly. He wasn't sure what she was getting at.  She clarified. "What we needed to do for Martha when she needed to learn," she said, referring to a member of the coven. 

The light finally dawned. Yes, of course, why hadn't he thought of that? He gave himself a mental shake. He thought he must have been developing some early senility. Willow was staring at them both, waiting for an explanation. 

"Before we get into that, I think it would help you to understand a bit of the history of the difference between the white and dark magicks." Willow nodded. He absently started cleaning his glasses as he began. Willow smirked inwardly at the telltale gesture. She loved seeing him in his element of sharing his knowledge. 

"White magic is said to reside within all humans. Certain people are more talented than others at harnessing it. You for example." He smiled down at her. 

"The natural white magic always costs you when you use it. It doesn't feel pleasant. Of course the results may be pleasant, which is why people still use it, but there is a certain discomfort, because you are essentially funneling your life energy into your spells. It's not good or bad. People with corrupt morals, can use white magic for evil, while others use it for good. 

"But the dark magicks were created by demons. They granted the use of the magicks to humans, but the cost was their souls for the time that they used the magicks. They cursed the magicks so that whenever the humans used them, they felt pleasure.  This is why people get addicted to the dark magicks. It's better than any street drug."

Willow was riveted. As Giles explained it, it all seemed to make perfect sense. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it before. Her heart sunk at what he said next,

"Once you've called forth both types of magic, they both reside inside you forever. So the only thing you can do is to learn the difference in how they feel, and to learn to call forth only the white magic."

"But I've been trying, really trying all day, and I haven't been able to feel anything like that," her voice held an edge of panic that made his heart squeeze. 

"That's not unusual Willow," Bridget answered softly. "Most people take years to learn the difference. I did." She looked into Willow's eyes. 

Willow hadn't considered that Bridget had dabbled in the dark arts. She suddenly felt guilty for resenting Bridget's teachings.

"Years?" she tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry. Giles cast her a sympathetic look.

"Normally, yes. But recently the coven discovered a way to speed up the process. And that's what Bridget is suggesting." He seemed to flush a little. 

"Well, we've got a Hellmouth a-rising in less than 2 days. I say let's try anything," she rocked on her heels with renewed hope. She stilled herself under Giles' suddenly intense gaze. "What?" 

"Well…" he watched her chew on her lip. "It's rather…intimate." She raised a copper brow.

"Intimate? How intimate?" 

Bridget scoffed at them both and crossed her arms over her ample chest. 

"Don't worry honey, it doesn't involve sex," she rolled her eyes at Rupert's odd sense of propriety. 

Giles shot Bridget an annoyed look, but then redirected himself to Willow. 

"You'll have to trust me Willow. I promise I won't hurt you."

"OK," she said in a small voice as she watched him remove his glasses and place them on the table. He slipped out of his vest and stood before her in his jeans and white collared shirt. She met his eyes only briefly before he stepped too close for her to keep eye contact without craning her head back. Instead she stared at his Adam's apple. 

He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. Her arms came up naturally to encircle him too. Giles felt every surface on the front of his body come into contact with hers: their chests, stomachs, pelvises, legs, arms, and hands. He felt the warmth of her cheek against his own, with his head bent to hers. She was mildly startled and excited by the full body contact, and enjoyed the pleasant prickliness of his cheek against hers.   
  
He worked hard to steady his heart rate and his breath. It was much more difficult to do this with someone he was sexually attracted to. He closed his eyes and issued a small internal prayer that he could control his arousal. It was going to be tough, he knew, as he felt Willow's warm breath on the back of his neck. Never the less, he steeled himself to the task at hand. He began to release some dark magic into her.  
  
Willow gasped with pleasure and pressed closer to him. '_Do you feel that_?' His mind spoke to hers. '_Yes. Oh God, yes.' He stopped the flow if the dark magic. Reflexively she tried to continue taking it. She might have succeeded if Bridget hadn't been helping him to stop her. '__Why are you doing this to me!' She cried out in his mind.   
  
'_Patience little one._' He lightly stroked her back and began to release the white magic into Willow. He held her up as her knees buckled in pain. He felt it too, the white-hot knife piercing his chest, but he was accustomed to the sensation. '__This is it isn't it?' Willow finally regained control over her limbs and gripped him tightly. '__This is the white magic.' He held her just as tightly. '__Yes.'_

Then Willow felt what she knew was the lesson. She felt Giles release both the white and the dark magic simultaneously. This was the feeling she was used to. Then she felt him begin to push the dark magic down, increasing the white magic. This was the lesson. 

_'You try it.' He released the reigns of control to her. She struggled for a moment. Then she felt his mind working with hers, showing her how to do it. The fingers of his thoughts intertwined with her own. She didn't know where she began and he ended. She was barley conscious of their bodies anymore, aside from their chests heaving together in sync. Suddenly she realized that she and Giles were pushing back the dark magic together. Slowly, he disentangled himself from her thoughts and she began to do it on her own. A surge of triumph flooded her. She had done it. She had controlled the magicks. Unbridled tears ran down her cheeks._

Giles clung to her, proud that she had managed it. Even this method wasn't always successful. Privately, he thought that it was their unique bond that had helped. He had always felt close to Willow, but now their connection was dramatically enhanced. Their embrace slowly dissolved from the lesson, to congratulations, to something else. 


	7. Falling

**Chapter 7: Falling**

Willow sat silently on the queen-sized bed, her knees drawn up to her chest. She gazed blankly at the tapestry that covered the stone wall as she thought about Giles. She could still feel his embrace even though hours had passed since the lesson. 

When their minds had merged she had touched the real Giles. She felt him completely for the first time. She felt him with no barriers, and it had been incredible. She couldn't find any words as he released her, but she longed to tell him…to tell him that she felt his passion for her, that she felt his passion for life. His mind was a wonderful complex labyrinth, and she yearned to explore it again. 

She let her eyelashes fall to her cheeks and imagined kissing him. The thought made her heart pound and her adrenaline flow. She also felt magic simmering in her belly. Beads of sweat glistened on her forehead as she practiced pushing down the dark magic and pulling forth the white. 

It wasn't as easy without Giles to help her, but slowly she managed to shift the balance within herself. She thought of him, of the pressure of his lips on hers. She thought of the scratchy feeling of his cheek on hers…and the feeling of his lips on her neck…

A sharp knock on the door jolted her so quickly out of her daydream, that she inadvertently released some magic. The tapestry snapped off the hanger and fell to the floor.

"Come in," she tried to keep her voice calm even though her heart hammered from being startled.  The door swung open and Bridget walked into the room, haughty as usual, one hand on her hip. 

"I just came to tell you that the other members of the coven are arriving, if you would like to come down to the parlor to meet them," she raised her brow at Willow's attire. She was wearing only a fitted tank top and her underwear. 

"You should probably put some clothes on first, though." She looked appraisingly at Willow's long freckled legs. 

Willow's face flushed under her stare. She hadn't thought about what she was wearing before she told Bridget to come in…although Bridget's outfit was equally revealing. Again, in leather, the zipper that ran up the front of her shirt was unzipped to just below her breasts. Her skintight pants clung to ever curve. Willow had to force herself to look away. 

She stood up and moved to find some clothing, but she found herself face to face with Bridget. She couldn't help but stare at her luscious pouty red lips. Willow lifted her eyes finally to meet Bridget's blue gaze. She almost jumped when she felt Bridget's hand brushing against her cheek.  Willow saw desire in that blue gaze. 

Her heart pounded as Bridget leaned in and pressed her lips softly against Willow's. Willow let her eyes close and opened her mouth to Bridget. Their tongues met in a soft warm dance. Willow felt Bridget's leather legs against her bare skin as Bridget pulled her closer. She felt Bridget's hand on the back of her neck, pulling her mouth passionately deeper into her own. 

The feeling of someone holding her close, of someone wanting her was intoxicating. And Bridget was one of the sexiest women she had ever met. She knew that she could let this go all the way if she wanted to, but something made Willow push Bridget slowly away. 

"Wait," she said, breathless. Bridget's dilated blue discs peered into her.

"I want you Willow," she said, not one to mince words. 

Willow was about to reply to Bridget, when she looked up and saw Giles in the hallway. The blank look on his face was worse than any rage he could've shown at that moment. He met her eyes for a brief moment and then walked away.  

Bridget saw Willow pale visibly and turned and caught a glimpse of Giles as he walked away. She frowned at herself for not shutting the door. Now nothing was going to happen. She flashed a look of disappointment at Willow and walked out of the room. 

§

Willow sank back down onto the bed and put her head in her hands.  She had to figure out how to handle this. Her mind swam with confusion. On, the one hand, she didn't owe Giles any explanations. She had never made a commitment to him. But even Willow knew in her soul that she had hurt him and that nearly brought her to tears.  A feeling of panic welled up in her chest. She couldn't lose him now that she had just realized her feelings for him. She had to talk to him. 

She quickly threw on a pair of jeans and rushed, barefoot, out into the hallway. Where could he have gone? Grounding herself, she reached out with her mind and tried to sense him.  There, he was in the library on the second floor. Even over the distance, she could feel the waves of anger and sadness coming from him. 

§

Giles hadn't felt emotion this strongly since his Ripper days. It took every ounce of self-restraint not to lash out physically at Bridget, when what he yearned to do was wrap his hands around her treacherous throat. She, of all people, knew how much Willow meant to him, and she had pursued her anyway. 

"Bitch," he mumbled to the empty room. 

He had thought he and Willow were growing closer, but his illusions had been shattered when he saw her in Bridget's arms. Giles kicked the nearest chair. It toppled over and skidded noisily across the stone floor. He knew he had to get a hold of himself. He felt Willow's presence before she spoke. 

"That was a pretty shady looking chair. Good thing you killed it," her words were light, but her tone was tense. 

He turned and just looked at her, his brows furrowed. He fought to regain a blank face. She didn't owe him anything. 

Her heart sank even lower at his blank expression. She couldn't even sense his emotion. He was closing himself off to her. 

"Giles, I…" she grappled for the right words. "Can we please talk?" She so was afraid that he would say no. 

He stared at her for a long time and finally nodded reluctantly. 

"Alright." He sighed and uprighted the chair. She sat in it, not unaware of the irony. He leaned against the solid oak desk and waited for her words.

"I pushed Bridget away because of you Giles," she got right to the point. 

"Because of me?" he struggled with the simultaneous hurt, jealousy, and potential joy that her statement offered him. 

Her green gaze pierced into him. She looked afraid. 

"We both know that Bridget is incredibly sexy, and kissing her wasn't the worst moment of my life…" She saw the jealousy well in his eyes. "But I think that this thing between you and I, whatever it is, is something special. Giles, I felt closer to you tonight than I've ever felt with anyone before. Even Tara," she whispered. The pain and guilt in her voice made him want to hold her.

"I know you are still grieving over her."

"Of course I am," she wiped a single tear away. "But that doesn't mean that I don't have feelings for you Giles. I'm sorry that you saw that scene with Bridget, but I didn't ask for it to happen, and I stopped it before it could go any farther. I stopped it…because, I would rather be with you."

He nearly trembled under her loving gaze. He felt as if he were dreaming. For so long he had longed to hear her say that she wanted to be with him. For so long he had convinced himself that it would never happen. 

But here she sat, her voice filled with longing, telling him words that he had longed for. 

Never breaking eye contact, he knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his own. His mind flashed the recent memory of kneeling in front of her at Buffy's house, wanting to kiss her, but holding back. 

He ached to touch her face. Willow brought her hand up to his and rubbed a thumb over his whiskers. He hadn't shaved today. Her cheek was like silk compared to his. She closed her eyes as he stroked her cheek, savoring the sensation.  

Then she could feel him move closer and his lips connected with hers in glorious warmth. He tasted spicy, like tea. She tasted like peppermint. He registered in the back of his mind that she must have just brushed her teeth after dinner. But that thought immediately went out of his head as she moved her hand to his hair and pulled him closer, letting her tongue explore his mouth. The blood in his veins raced as he yielded to the passion of the kiss. He lost himself in the sensation of their merging mouths. 

They separated, both breathless. Giles ran his hands along Willow's freckled shoulders and made her shiver. 

"We should stop," he said gently, not wanting to. He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. 

"Yes, that's probably a good idea" she nodded in agreement, lying. 

He smiled at her bravado. With their collaborative self-control, they could take things slowly. But not too slowly, he thought as he ran his hands along the silky skin of her arms. She smiled back. 

"Slow is good, Giles. I think that's what I need." 

"Then let's go have some tea with the coven then," he stood up and helped her to her feet. "Before I lose my senses."  He brushed his lips gently over hers and draped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her towards the door. 


	8. Disc of Ages

**Chapter 8: Disc of Ages**

Willow found socializing a bit harder than she thought it would be. Giles had disappeared for the moment, leaving her to her own devices. She milled amongst the dozens of witches, trying to make small talk. She chatted for a while with wonderful grandmotherly old women named Margaret about the proper uses for wolfs bane. Margaret noticed Willow's preoccupation, though and steered her to the sofa. They sat down and she handed Willow a cup of tea. 

"I think he went to fetch an artifact for Eliza. He should be back soon," she smiled at the young one. Willow stared at the woman, a little unnerved that she was so transparent. 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude," she stammered. 

"Not to worry, dear, love does funny things to us all." She smiled into her tea. As she settled the cup on the saucer she sized up the young witch. Margaret could feel the waves of energy rolling off Willow. She was sure that most of the women in the room could feel it, which is why she took pity on Willow. Most of the women had been deliberately avoiding her, made uncomfortable by her enormous power. But Margaret had hope for this one. She had always trusted her intuition, and today it told her to embrace this girl, to help her. 

Willow blushed at Margaret's comment on love. She wanted so much to just be away from all of these people, and to be able to spend some time with Giles. She sipped on her tea and tried to let it sooth her frayed nerves. 

§

Giles climbed the stairs with renewed energy, thinking about Willow with a smile playing on his lips. Eliza had asked him to run up to the third floor and unearth an old relic they would need for tomorrow's ceremony. The coven would need to bless the object tonight. He tried to remember where he was supposed look for it, the 4th door on the left he recalled. 

He swung the door open and scanned the empty bedroom for the object. A large chest sat at the foot of the bed. He lifted the heavy top of the chest and began to rummage through its contents. There. He pulled out the heavy metal disc. The outer sections were gold and etched with ancient markings. The inner portion of the disc was a medley of silver, brass, and a few other metals. Giles slipped the disc into his breast pocket and stood up to leave the room.  Rage stopped him dead in his tracks. 

"Rupert," Bridget greeted him with a frown.

"What are you doing up here," he reflexively twisted at the ring on his finger, and knew that he would have to control his anger like never before, or she would never leave this room alive. She seemed to sense his malice and took an uncharacteristic step backwards. 

"Grandmother sent me up here to retrieve the Disc of Ages." She watched him intently.  His frown deepened. 

"She just asked me to retrieve it," calling her lie. 

"She obviously wanted to throw us together." This was the first time that Giles had seen Bridget defensive, nervous, and uncomfortable. He reveled in it. She had betrayed him and he would never forgive her.

"You keep your distance from me and from Willow," he growled and began to walk past her and out the door. 

At the sound of a choked sob he stopped walking, but refused to turn around. His blood boiled. Was this another tactic on Bridget's part to squelch his rage? He was sick and tired of her games. She had always been an expert in manipulation.  But she didn't take advantage of this moment. Instead she walked into the room and quietly closed the door. 

He continued walking down the hall and made it down to the second floor before his damn conscience forced him to turn around and head back to the bedroom. Part of him wanted to let the matter drop completely, knowing that he had won in the end. The other part of him still fumed at her betrayal. 

Not knocking, he eased the door open. Bridget sat, curled up on the window seat. She stared out at the ocean of trees outside her window. Giles could see the tears on her cheek as he walked over to her. She turned to look at him finally.

"You knew I loved her Bridget," he accused.

"Yes." Her expression was tortured. "And now I know that she loves you. So you get the girl Rupert." 

"But why did you do it?" A moment of silence filled the room. She finally met his eyes again and answered. 

"Because I've been falling in love too."

"Lust and love, although they're connected, are not the same thing Bridget," he lectured. 

"Don't you lecture me Rupert. You think I don't know what love is?" anger crept into her voice. She swung her legs off the window seat. "You don't know anything about me." His impatience with her was growing by the moment. 

"Well if you didn't put on a show all the time, with your tough girl act and your haughty attitude, maybe people would start to know you," he threw his hands up in aggravation. "And you've only known Willow for a few days, you can't possibly be in love with her." 

Bridget looked like she had been punched in the stomach. After a beat, she choked out her next words,

"I'm not in love with *her* you clueless lout!" She stormed out of the room, and with full drama slammed the door behind her. 

§

Willow chatted distractedly with Margaret until she saw Giles return. She had sensed a disturbance upstairs, but wasn't sure what had happened. He looked tired and upset as he entered the parlor. 

He pulled the metal disc from his pocket and placed it with a bang onto the table next to 

Eliza. She jumped in her chair and frowned at this foolish behavior. 

"There's your bloody relic," his deep voice was low, but everyone in the room had gone silent at his entrance. "If you even think about doing anything like that again, you will find yourself minus one watcher and one powerful witch. Do you understand me?" He stood over the old woman looking down at her with contempt. 

"Mr. Giles, we all need to work together here in harmony," she was unaffected by his threat. "I shan't have the bickering between two members of this coven come between us and our duty. Whether you like it or not, I am the leader of this coven and if I deem it necessary for you and Bridget to work out your differences, then it shall be done. Is *that* understood." She raised an eyebrow at Giles. 

The silence in the room full of witches was profound. They all held their breath, startled by the interchange between Giles and the coven's leader. He stared at her for a long moment and eased off. She was right; she did have a higher responsibility. Giles was now starting to feel foolish for his outburst. 

"My apologies Mrs. Bennett," his voice held just the right note of sincerity. The room collectively let out a sigh of relief and the noise of conversation began to fill it again. 

"You're forgiven," she waved him off with her napkin. "Don't you have something better to do than to talk with an old woman like me," a sparkle gleamed in her eye as she gestured to Willow, who was sitting tensely on the other side of the room, watching the scene in horror. 

"Indeed," he gave the grandmother a reluctant smile and moved towards Willow. She spoke first as he approached her.

"You just can't stay out of trouble, can ya?"

"Apparently not," he pulled her off the couch and led her out of the parlor. 

"What happened?" 

"Mrs. Bennett set up a little run-in for me and Bridget. She sent us both up for the same relic at the same time."

"Oh," Willow's mind swam with thoughts of what that confrontation must have been like. 

"Don't worry, I didn't throttle her," he grinned at Willow's concerned expression. 

"Where are we going?" Willow walked with him. He seemed to be on a mission. He led her out the front door and to the car. "We can't just leave Giles, these people need help."

"We're not leaving for good," he chuckled as he turned the ignition. "But I bet there's an Expresso Bar or something of the like in this town. I need a cup of coffee."

Willow stared at him in disbelief. Coffee?

"I guess we really have Americanized you." 

"Yes," he agreed with his beautiful British accent. "And you are sworn to secrecy." They pulled away from the house, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.


	9. The Daily Grind

**Chapter 9: The Daily Grind**

Amazingly they didn't have to drive very far. As Giles worked his way around the rotary in the center of town, swearing at the crazy drivers, Willow spotted a place. The sign said, The Daily Grind. On the door, the small establishment boasted open mike nights and poetry slams. Giles pulled the rental into a parking spot, grateful for the ease of parking in small towns, and stepped out into the night. 

The couple grabbed a cozy table in the corner and ordered their drinks. Willow munched on some biscotti and enjoyed the peace of the place. It was open mike night and a college-age student was playing the guitar and crooning out a fairly decent version of Black by Pearl Jam. She rested her hand comfortably in Giles' hand. 

A thought rushed to her.  When the waitress came by with their drinks, she asked,

"Is there a sign up sheet to sing tonight?" 

"Nope. It's dead in here tonight. All the college kids have gone home for the summer. It's pretty much a free for all, whoever wants to step up to the mike."

Giles could see where she was going with this and smirked, shaking his head. 

"No, Willow." 

"Oh come on Giles, your guitar is in the trunk isn't it?" she gave him her most pathetic puppy dog eyes look and squeezed his hand. "Please." 

He sighed in defeat.

"You know that's not fair, begging and all." He gave her one last look before he headed out to the car. Her eyes danced with excitement, and that was reward enough. 

§

Giles slipped back through the front door of The Daily Grind with his guitar casually slung over his shoulder. He stepped up to the small stage area which was now empty and sat down on the creaky wooden stool. 

Willow watched on as he tuned his guitar with ease. He looked so natural sitting up there casually plucking at the strings. She thought that despite his skill as a watcher, he must have missed his true calling to perform. He looked younger somehow, a youthfulness playing across his features. 

As he tuned his 6-string he was privately grateful at Willow's suggestion. He had always felt a level of release and relaxation when he sang. Although tonight's audience only consisted of a half dozen coffee addicts, that really didn't matter. Willow was there. He slid the microphone closer and looked over at her. 

"I've always enjoyed a variety of music, so it's rather difficult to decide what to play tonight," he smiled shyly at his audience, a modest natural showman. "I'm usually one for the more dated songs, but I think I shall play a little Chris Isaac tonight. This one is called Wicked Game."

As his fingers began to pluck at the metal strings, Willow sat transfixed. The melancholy music washed over her and she felt a shiver run up her spine at the first sound of his beautiful sultry voice. His head bent with the weight of the tune. 

_The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.  
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.  
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you.  
And I never dreamed that I knew somebody like you.  
  
No, I don't want to fall in love._

_No, I don't want to fall in love._

_With you.__ With you._

His eyes lifted and met hers. It was so much easier to sing to her than to open himself up with his own words. 

_What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way.  
What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you.  
What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way.  
What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you and,  
  
I want to fall in love. _

_No, I want to fall in love. _

_With you.___

Willow gripped her coffee mug and let her mind reel with the emotions of the day. She could feel herself falling hard for Giles. She marveled at the small things like the angle of his cheekbone and the intensity of his gaze as his eyes burned into hers. And she knew that she needed to be with him.  

As he strummed the final notes of the song he continued to lock eyes with Willow. He could see the flush that had risen to her cheeks and the rise and fall of her chest over her quick breathing. He wasn't sure how slowly he could bear to take things with her. The skin of her freckled shoulders glowed in the flickering light of the candle on their table, beckoning him. 

§

Amidst the scattered applause, the bell on the coffee shop door rang, announcing the latest patron. Giles broke Willow's gaze and was shocked to see Bridget's mother standing in the doorway shaken and looking about frantically. As soon as she spotted him she hurried forward. 

"Mr. Giles!" she grabbed his arm while trying to catch her breath. He could see Willow throwing some money on the table and rushing over. "You must come quickly."

"Claire, it's alright. Calm down and tell me what's going on." He easily slipped into the Watcher's persona, the voice of reason and intellect. He led her and Willow out of the coffee shop ignoring the blatant stares. 

Claire slipped into silence however stepping away from Willow as if snarled at by an unseen predator. Willow had a similar reaction, stepping off the sidewalk, backing away from the woman. Giles watched, completely puzzled by their reactions to each other. 

"Willow, this is Claire, Bridget's mother. Claire, this is Willow, a…friend of mine," he hoped an introduction would ease whatever this immediate tension was about. He could see the lines of stress between Willow's eyes as she stared at the woman.

"You have incredible power," Willow whispered and took another step back. 

"So do you," Claire raised an eyebrow, looking very similar to her daughter in that moment. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never met anyone else that's had…" 

"Me neither." 

Giles could see the two of them begin to relax a little bit, although still on guard. Now that he thought about it, when he carried Claire to his car this afternoon he had felt the waves of power coming off her. But it didn't register to him at the time because he was so used to feeling the similar sensation when he was with Willow. Now that the two of them were together in the same space, the air almost felt like it had a charge to it. 

Claire redirected her focus to Giles. 

"Mr. Giles-"

"Rupert, please," he interrupted as he placed his guitar back into the trunk of the rental car. 

"Ok, Rupert then, we just performed the blessing with the Disc of Ages-"

He interrupted her again with his eyebrows furrowed,

"You performed the blessing without us!" 

"Yes," she ignored his accusatory tone. "But something has gone terribly wrong."

"Well I'm not surprised. I'm sure that one of the members of the coven is now possessed by Forelic, the demon spirit that was trapped inside the disc." 

Willow stepped into the conversation, familiar with the blessing ritual.

"You mean, you didn't put a binding field around Disc of Ages before you blessed it. Are you insane!" she yelled at the woman. Claire finally had enough of the two against one blame-game.

"That's enough out of both of you." She held a hand up, motioning for them to remain silent. "Now, be quiet and listen to me." Giles and Willow shared a look of disbelief that coven would make such a foolish move, but they remained silent and let Claire continue. "Mother planned on releasing Forelic's spirit so that it could possess one of the girls. It was the only way we could begin to find out where the other coven is planning on opening the hellmouth."

"That's the most dangerous, foolish idea that I've heard-"

"I said be quiet Rupert. There's more…" He could see Claire gathering her emotions. "Forelic inhabited Bridget."

Giles felt Willow's shock in addition to his own. As far as he knew, Forelic wasn't the type of demon who would allow itself to be exorcised without killing its host. Giles knew that he had over-reacted that afternoon and had been hoping to talk things out with Bridget eventually. But now, it didn't seem like there was much hope for that. And obviously Claire held onto the same knowledge. 

"We've locked Bridget up in one of the rooms in Mother's castle. But we aren't having any luck getting information out of Forelic. And the exorcising spell that Mother had isn't working."

"Giles, let's go back to the castle. I think I can help Bridget," Willow offered Claire a ray of hope. Giles and Willow slipped back into the rental car and told Claire that they would meet her back at the castle. 

"Are you sure Willow?" he asked once they were alone. "I don't want that poor woman to get her hopes up." 

"No, I'm not 100% sure, but I have a few tricks still up my sleeve. I'll just have to try them and see if they work. I mean, what do we have to lose?" 

Giles frowned in irritation.

"What do we have to lose??? …how about EVERYTHING, Willow."

"Why? Do you think I can't handle the magicks," the hurt in her voice was evident.

"It's not that I don't have faith in you, Willow. Quite the contrary, really. It's just that you just learned today how to push back the dark magicks. You can't expect yourself to be able to go into a real situation and magically fight a demon without a little more practice."

Willow sat in silence for a few minutes. Giles' stomach churned in fear and worry that he had just said the wrong thing to her and that she would hate him for it. She finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper at first, but then gaining strength with each word. 

"Giles, I'm not like other girls. Sometimes I wish to God that I was. I wish I could never have learned that vampires and demons were real, that there's a thwarted apocalypse every 6 months, that good people can be overtaken by evil demons. But that's my life now.

"I chose to help use my magic for good, not only because I wanted to help, but because I felt that I was given a special ability to help. All of my life I've been the quickest learner in my studies in and out of school. I taught myself how to work my magic.

"I know that I am special. I know that I can do this. I know that when other people can't find a solution to a problem, that I can. I haven't always used my abilities for good, but I'm ready to take responsibility for my gift. And if I'm the only one who can save Bridget, then I'm going to do it." Willow took Giles' free hand and held it in her own. "You have always believed in me Giles. And that's something that I carry with me all the time. It's like a badge of pride and a well of strength that I draw from. That you believe in me. I need you to believe in me now."

The fire in her eyes was one of the things that he loved about her. He had watched her grow over the years from a young, insecure girl into a confident woman. She would do this alone, but she wanted him by her side. And of course he couldn't imagine himself anywhere else. He smoothed her hair.

"I believe in you Willow, more than anyone in my life." The looks of sincerity on his face caused her heart to squeeze with emotion. She let her eyelashes fall and leaned until their lips met. 

"Good," she pulled away slowly and smirked. 

Giles pulled the car onto the road and Willow began to tell him about her plan. 


	10. Forelic

**Chapter 10: Forelic**

Giles eased the heavy wooden door open and stepped inside room where Bridget and Forelic were being held. Like a predator, she eased slowly out of the shadows. The creature's glowing green eyes stared back at Giles with menace. _Just like Jenny, his stomach tightened. The only remnant of Bridget was her body. Forelic had full control. Even Bridget's voices had lowered to a demonic pitch._

"And what do we have here?" the creature tilted its head.

"I'm here to make you an offer Forelic."

The demon stepped menacingly towards Giles, but stopped suddenly with a look of confusion on its face. 

"Just a little protection spell to keep you on your best behavior," Giles put his hands in his pockets as if to reinforce his nonchalance. 

"You have nothing I want," the creature growled. 

"Oh, I beg to differ," he pulled the Disc of Ages out of his pocket. Forelic's glowing eyes widened and Bridget's small frame shook as Forelic strained against the protection spell.

"Naïve human, you cannot conceive of what that disc can do. Give it to me."

"Not until you release Bridget and tell us what we want to know."

The creature scoffed. 

"Your spell won't last long human. And when it fails, the disc will be mine. And so will your organs. There's nothing as tasty as a nice warm heart, preferably still beating." An inhuman growl issued from Bridget's throat. 

"The disc is bound to me now Forelic. You cannot harvest its magic without me releasing it," Giles tossed the metal object to the beast, who quickly saw that Giles was telling the truth. It would not respond to the creature's incantations. Forelic uttered what must have been curses in his native tongue and peered at Giles warily. 

"What do you want?"

Giles took his opportunity before it slipped away.

"Your ability to sense and, well…steal dark power is legendary. We need to know where the best place to open a Hellmouth in this area would be. If you provide us with good information, we will release you and give you the Disc of Ages."

"This is a trick," the beast cocked Bridget's head.

"No trick. We need this information, and we are willing to make whatever sacrifices are necessary." Giles looked at the Bridget's body with a grim expression.

"I can feel the taint of white magic in this place," Forelic looked around with disgust. "You and your witches would never open a Hellmouth."

Giles looked genuinely surprised.

"We're not going to open it, we're going to close it."

"And why would I help you do that?"

"For your freedom." Giles let the offer hang in the air. This was either going to work or it wasn't. He still couldn't tell which. Forelic was notoriously unpredictable. The demon turned the Disc over in Bridget's hand and prowled around Giles towards the door. The unseen shield blocked the demon from stepping outside the room, and caused him to growl again. 

"I will tell you what I know, human. Although you may not comprehend what I say with your puny brain, you will release me when I am done," the beast commanded. Giles nodded his concession. 

"What you seek is not here. It is in the depths of the nearest metropolis. A place that has seen death, madness, torture, and countless atrocities. Man didn't know what they were capable of when they ran their wires through the ground and then through their neighbors. But these miles of tunnels have already led to hell. It's almost poetic that someone would call forth a Hellmouth here. I'm sure that the spirits left behind will celebrate the coming of something new, since their place as been long unchanged." Forelic finished his enigmatic tirade and held out the Disc with expectation. "Release me." Giles paused for a moment, trying to remember all of the details of the demons revelation. He looked up as the demon spoke again with anger. "Release me!"

"Yes, of course." Giles opened the door to the chamber and let Willow into the room. He nodded at her in confirmation that they had gathered the information they needed. She began to chant, perspiration beading on her forehead.

"Selu conta expedia vertamente, gordona ferna ratu sedu…" she continued chanting over Forelic's words,

"What are you doing witch!" Forelic watched the Disc begin to glow in Bridget's hand. 

"Lacoiste walo questimentado gorlina…"

"You cannot imprison me in this Disc again witch," he protested vigorously. "I was tricked last time into making a wish while I held the damned Relic, but I did not wish again!" his arguments began to fade as the demon was pulled from Bridget's body into the metal device.

"Salimarnum ecto finito!" Willow finished the spell and leaned against the wall as the pain from the surge of white magic ebbed away. Giles rushed to catch Bridget as she crumbled to the floor when Forelic left her body completely. Claire and Eliza both hurried into the room and to Bridget's side. Eliza looked from Giles to Willow,

"How did you do it?"

"Well, it was Willow's idea actually," Giles smiled with a bit of pride and let Willow tell the tale. She had recovered from the magic and joined the group as Bridget regained consciousness. 

"I remembered reading about the Disc of Ages back in Sunnydale. It's like a mystical lie detector. Throughout the Ages," Willow grinned at her play on words. Giles caught her pun and smirked back. "Warlocks have used the Disc to entrap souls that engage in behavior that's, err, I guess unbecoming is the best word to use." Willow picked up the disc off the floor. "See these markings," she pointed to the engravings on the inside of the Disc and then began to twist the disc in her hands. It made a clicking sound and realigned the symbols. "Each marking is for a difference sin, for lack of a better word. See, this one is for wishing for gain, and this one is for murder, and this one," she pointed to the one that was just active. "That's for trying to use the disc for dark purposes." Claire looked up at Willow.

"If the Disc is that powerful on it's own, what was your incantation?"

"I was just removing the binding spell I had put on it earlier. He may have been able to harness the Disc's energy before it could take him, so I bound the Disc's power for a few minutes."

"Well done," Bridget sat up on her elbows and gave Willow a look of genuine appreciation. "I dare say that I thought I was a gonner. He wouldn't let me back into my body, the punsy bastard." She looked at the Disc with as much malice as if it were Forelic himself. 

"No problem," Willow waved of the compliment with a self-indulgent smile. Giles could see that her eyes were heavy with exhaustion. 

"You should think about some sleep," he put an arm around her. She nodded. The two said their goodnights and agreed to meet the coven in the tearoom bright and early the next morning to discuss Forelic's revelations.

§

Giles stood in the doorway of Willow's room and watched her slip off her shoes. Feeling a surge of confused emotion from him, she looked up tried to read the expression on his face. 

"What?"

"You were incredible tonight Willow," he shook his head in shame. "I'm sorry I didn't have faith in you right from the beginning." 

"Well I did go all evil, Giles, I think that constitutes a pretty good reason for some doubt," her gaze turned inward. He could see her own shame as she tried to bury it. 

"That may be, but you should be proud of yourself. Most witches with your kind of power would have immediately sought out much stronger spells to try to beat Forelic on their own terms. But you used your head and beat him with your knowledge rather than some fancy spell." He couldn't have been more proud than he was at this moment, and Willow could hear it clearly in his voice as well as hear it in her heart. Her tired smile lit up the room for him. 

"That was pretty clever, wasn't it." Their eyes met for the first time since his song at the coffee shop. Willow's stomach churned with nervousness, remembering their kiss in the library. She wanted to feel his arms around her again, but found herself suddenly shy. _Which is ridiculous, she thought. __I've known this man for 6 years. But still she couldn't move more than here eyes, which lowered to his mouth and stared at those lips that had turned her knees into jelly just hours before._

Giles stood, staring back at the young woman he's watched grow up for the past 6 years into the stunning creature before him. Even in jeans and a tank top she took his breath away. He couldn't resist reaching out and brushing aside a lock of hair that had fallen across her face. Her skin was velvety smooth under his fingers. Willow closed her eyes and sighed with contentment.

This moved him even more than their earlier kiss. If she could find contentment with him, even after all that had happened between them, there was hope for much more. Maybe, possibly they could make this thing work, despite the age difference and the events of last week.

He pulled her close into his arms and just held her, the weariness of the day weighing heavily on them both. Giles smoothed her silky red locks under his course palm and felt the tension ebbing from himself. After a few wonderful minutes of just breathing together, she looked up at him.

"Could you just stay here tonight and just hold me," the blush crept up her cheeks as she contemplated what else he might want to do. But the truth was that neither of them had the energy for anything other than falling fast to sleep.

"Of course love." He kissed the top of her head lightly. 

§

Awash in peacefulness for the first time in forever, Giles stretched and reached for Willow as he opened his eyes. They had only remained awake for moments after their heads hit the pillow. Exhaustion had claimed them quickly. But his hand found only bedding that was cool to the touch. She must have gotten up a while ago, he thought as he reached for his glasses on the nightstand. Once he could finally see, he found her sitting on the floor on the other side of the room. 

Willow's eyes were closed as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. Sitting in the lotus position with candles around her, she practiced pushing down the dark magic. Giles watched her face struggling for calmness as she worked her spell, her dripping wet hair darkening her shirt. The smell of her shampoo filled the air. It was a more intense version of the usual strawberry smell that surrounded her. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling intoxicated by it. 

He half expected to awake from this dream any moment. For all of these years the best he had hoped for was to be there for her, to be her colleague in demon chasing, perhaps to be her guide, but never her lover, her love. He flushed a little when he opened his eyes and caught her staring at him. 

"Morning," he smiled. Her eyes smiled back but she remained silent in concentration. Her gaze shifted to a tray of breakfast he had neglected to notice thus far. Slowly, one of the strawberries rose up off the plate and floated towards him. It hovered in front of his lips until he opened them and the juicy red fruit slid into his mouth. He took a bite, feeling alternately aroused and concerned. He decidedly shrugged off his concern, in favor of the more appealing emotion. Besides, Willow had worked hard over the past few days to prove her ability to control her magicks. 

After the second strawberry, he slid over to the tray and plucked one off, intent on his own mission. He knelt down in front of her and fed it to her waiting mouth. The noise of pleasure in her throat made his arousal surge. She finished swallowing his offering and looked into his eyes. 

"Eliza can sure conjure a good breakfast," she smirked. He raised an eyebrow to her.

"The strawberries are quite tasty Willow, but that's not what makes this breakfast so delightful." He lowered his mouth to hers. Their tongues mingled in fruity sweetness. Willow's pulse quickened beneath his hand that gently caressed her neck. They broke apart reluctantly. 

"They're expecting us downstairs in a few minutes," the familiar sound of duty edged his voice. Willow could hear the unspoken statement in them,_ but I would rather stay up here with you. _ She knew they would have plenty of time later though, so she didn't encourage him to remain. 

"There's a shower down the hall on the right," she moved to put on her shoes. He stared at her for a moment, wanting to just carry her to the bed and be damned with the witches downstairs. But he knew that if they didn't show up down there soon, that someone would come looking for them. And the last thing he wanted was to be interrupted the first time he and Willow…

He shook off his thoughts and began to move towards the door. 

"Will you tell them I'll be down in a moment?"

"No problem," she zipped up one of her brown earthen boots. "And Rupert…" He stopped in his tracks. The last time she had used his first name, she had tried to kill him. He turned slowly towards her. But the sparkle in her eye held only affection, nothing maniacal. He let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Thank you for staying with me last night. I really needed that."

"So did I Willow." He gazed at her for a long moment and left the room is search for his shower. 

§

What you seek is not here. It is in the depths of the nearest metropolis. A place that has seen death, madness, torture, and countless atrocities. Man didn't know what they were capable of when they ran their wires through the ground and then through their neighbors. But these miles of tunnels have already led to hell. It's almost poetic that someone would call forth a Hellmouth here. I'm sure that the spirits left behind will celebrate the coming of something new, since their place has been long unchanged.

  


"Well, let's break it down on line at a time then." Giles could not keep his irritation out of his tone. Everyone from the coven was trying to put their two cents in, and they were getting nowhere fast. 

"Giles is right," Willow used her intimidation of the others' to her advantage. "And we don't need 30 women to do that. Why don't you all work on the protection spell we'll be needing when we find the location." Her voice held an edge of power that caused most of the women to back off. Only Eliza, Bridget, and Claire remained at the table where they were working.

Bridget had chosen today for a change in fashion sense for once. She wore a soft blue angora sweater and immaculate jeans, which must have been ironed for their stiffness. She frowned at Giles' tablet where he had written down the demon's puzzling words. She ran an impatient hand through her long hair. 

"Alright, fine. _The nearest metropolis_…that means the nearest city, right? Would that be Boston?" she looked at her mother. Claire shook her head. 

"No, there are other cities that are closer. They aren't terribly urban, but they are classified as cities. There are two that are about the same distance from here – Brockton and Taunton."

"That's good. We've quickly narrowed it down to two towns," the crease in Giles brow deepened as he looked at the rest of the message.  "But this next part about _countless atrocities_, well that could mean just about anything." He sighed and started cleaning his glasses. Willow watched Giles with new eyes. She forced herself to put back thoughts of their budding relationship and tried to focus on the job at hand. 

"But what about this next part?" she pointed to the passage about the underground tunnels. "There have got to be city records about these so-called tunnels. I'm gonna go grab my lap top out of the car Giles. I'll be right back." She squeezed his shoulder and trotted out of the room. 

She returned quickly and hopped on the Internet. He watched her with fascination. Her hands flew daintily across the keyboard as she chewed on her bottom lip. For a moment he allowed himself to be distracted by his attraction, but quickly remembered the talented witches surrounding him. They could probably sense his desire without so much as a chant. In his mind he threw up his emotional wall. Willow looked up quickly with silent concern and just as quickly nodded an affirmation that she understood what he was doing. 

After only a few minutes of checking local newspapers and municipal sites, Willow looked up with excitement. The other woman and Giles gathered around her to see what she had found. 

"Both cities have and intricate underground maze of sewer tunnels, just like Sunnydale," she began. But Taunton has something else. In 1851, during the rise of state sponsored mental facilities, Taunton State Hospital for the Insane was built.  Some of the old buildings are still being used, but they had built underground tunnels connecting all of the buildings, and oh…" Willow frowned. 

"What?" Eliza tried to peer over her shoulder. 

"They built rooms down in the tunnel for their extreme therapy." She looked up at Giles. "That's where they performed their shock treatments."

"Well that certainly falls into the bad energy category," he frowned. 

"That's not even the half of it," she clicked to the next page of the site that showed pictures of patients lying in their own filth in the dark hallways. "Many of the patients died there in the late 1800's through the mid 1900's. They didn't have enough staff to care for everyone, so some of them starved to death. Others killed themselves. And the state uncovered some really disturbing experiments some of the doctors were doing on these poor people.

"Since most of the patients didn't have any family, they wouldn't be missed. So a half dozen of the doctors had created a secret research society in the 1920's. They performed both surgical and psychotherapy on these patients that would never be allowed today. Their methods were unsanitary and their experiments inhumane." Willow's frown turned to disgust at one of the more graphic black and white photos of a surgical victim. 

"Well I'd say we found our Hellmouth," Claire stated the obvious. 

"It all makes sense now," Giles guided them along his path of logic. "This place has seen death, madness, torture, and more.  And Forelic's mysterious comment about wires through the ground and through their neighbors refers to the tunnels and the shock therapy victims. And I'm sure most of these people considered these tunnels their own version of hell. There must be hundreds of people that died down there, and most of them are probably still there…" His voice held an ominous tone. They would not only be facing another coven. They would be facing ghosts and poltergeists with unfinished business. And most of them weren't sane in the living world. There wasn't much hope that they would be anywhere close to sane now. 

"All the more reason for us to practice our protection spells," Eliza said sharply, in her no-nonsense tone. Willow almost felt bad for any ghosts that crossed paths with that woman.  


	11. A Little R&R

**Chapter 11: A Little R&R**

Exhausted from working hard on spell preparation all day, Giles and Willow stepped out into the night, hoping that a walk and some dinner would help fade the tension of the day. They meandered out onto the sidewalk of the main street enjoying the peace and quiet of the setting sun. Willow inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of a freshly cut lawn. 

The golden glow of sunset on her skin caused Giles to stare at her openly. She looked like a goddess in her sundress that swayed with her hips as she walked with him. Her copper locks took on a supernatural glow. For just a moment, he felt like he must be dreaming. She interrupted his adoration, misinterpreting his attention.

"What? Is the dress ok? You told me to change. I wasn't sure what to wear," she babbled, feeling insecure under his scrutiny. He silenced her with a smile. 

"You're magical Willow. And you look incredible."

"Oh," her eyes twinkled with surprise and pleasure. "Well, you look pretty spiffy yourself," she openly admired how perfectly his pants clung to his backside. It was his turn to blush. Gratefully, she changed the subject. "So, where are we going?"

"Claire was raving about a restaurant that's only about a mile up the road. And…" he looked her in the eye, "I thought maybe you and I could use a little time to ourselves." 

Her lips curled up in a smile. All day she had been beating back the urge to grab Giles and take him to a private room in the mansion so they could be alone. Even though she burned to kiss him again, her desire was born more out of the need to spend one on one time with him. She hooked her arm through his and enjoyed the walk.

As they approached the tiny restaurant, the smells rolling off the building caused their stomachs to growl in anticipation. When they stepped inside the darkened room, the scents intensified into smells so rich that Willow felt dizzy with over stimulation. 

The perceptive hostess sat them in a private corner, complete with candles and gleaming crystal glasses waiting to be filled. After a few indecisive moments of looking at the menu and wanting one of everything, they ordered and the waiter brought over the bottle of merlot that they requested. 

Giles held up his glass and Willow followed suit, looking at him questioningly. 

"A toast, to you Willow," the love in his eyes nearly melted her right there. "You are the strongest person that I know. A toast…to your first week without dark magic."

They both took a healthy swallow of their wine.

"Wow."

"It is very good," Giles enjoyed the fumes that remained in his mouth. 

"Yes, the wine is good," Willow agreed. "But I was wowing because it's only been a week…it feels like a lot longer than that," she said honestly. 

"It's like that at first," he covered her hand with his own. "But eventually, each day won't seem like such a challenge."

"You make it easier," she met his gaze.

"Well, I have a lot of practice."

"That's not what I meant."

He took her compliment silently, pouring himself another glass of wine. Never before had he a desire to be so close to someone. His fears of sharing himself when they had stood in Buffy's yard had fallen away some time over the past several days. Now all he wanted was to tell her everything about himself, and to have her still love him anyway. 

"My father was always dead set against me using the magicks, which made me delve even deeper into that life when I was younger. _Rupert, don't shirk your responsibilities," Giles imitated his father. Willow watched him in silence as he opened up to her. "Shirk indeed," he frowned and looked up at Willow with sudden intensity. "You know, I think I've said something along those lines to Buffy more times than I can count. And it never once occurred to me that those words were the very thing that spurred me into rebellion."_

"Like Watcher, like Slayer," she smiled at his distress. He made a very British noise in his throat, plainly dismayed by himself. "Does your father still live in England?" 

"No, he passed away about 20 years ago," Giles buried his face in his glass so that Willow couldn't quite read his expression. However, she didn't let the subject pass.

"What happened?"

After a long pause, he finally answered the truth as he saw it. 

"I killed him," he watched Willow carefully for her reaction. He wasn't surprised as she remained expressionless, her luminous green eyes wordlessly spurring him on to tell his story. "I don't think you really want to hear this story Willow."

"Yes, because what you've said so far is so comforting," she raised an eyebrow. When he just stared at her, speechless, she spoke up again, her tone low, "You want me to love you for who you really are Giles, right?...not some perfect flawless human. I know you're not perfect."

"Yes, but there's a different between being imperfect and being downright unforgivable."

"But doesn't everyone deserve forgiveness eventually?"

"Not for some things," he shook his head, his mind living over a 20 year old memory.

"Like killing someone," the crack in Willow's voice broke his concentration. He looked up to find tears in her eyes. He felt a wave of her guilt wash over him and realized what a stupid thing he had just said. 

"Oh, no, Willow, I didn't mean you," his heart ached for her. He brought his hand up to her cheek and wiped away the tear that had just spilled over. 

"Whatever you did, Giles, can't be any worse than what I did," she shook her head in sadness and excused herself. Giles cursed his stupidity as he watched her walk to the ladies room. She was right really. He had never thought of it in those terms. What he had done all those years ago was a direct result of too much dark magic. He blamed himself for losing control of it, but the truth was that it was too powerful for him. 

Willow returned, her eyes slightly red, but now dry. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Whatever for?" 

"You were telling me something about your past for the first time and I took it personally."

"Willow, I'm the one who should apologize," he rubbed his hand over his face. "I should have been more sensitive in what I said." He stared at his hands for a long moment and took a deep breath. "When I was in my early twenties I was involved with a small coven, including Ethan Rayne. We were so young and stupid conjuring Eyghon and other dark magic. But it was such a high that none of us even thought to stop. The eroticism was incredible." Giles paused, remembering so many moments of exhilaration from those days, actually mostly nights. He started to think twice about telling this story. There was a distinct possibility that even she would be appalled beyond her ability to understand. She sensed his reticence and encouraged him to continue. 

"It's an incredible feeling, I know," she whispered. Sometimes she would conjure the magicks during sex with Tara to increase the intensity of their orgasms. At times like those, there wasn't much that Willow would have blushed at. Hell, Wrack had made her feel aroused beyond words for the short time she had fallen under his magic. It was only afterward that she had wept with regret at the things she had done, the things she had allowed him to make her feel. 

"There were 6 of us at that time, myself, Ethan, Philip, Thomas, Randall and Diedre. Randall and Diedre were practically living together in a flat in London. That's where we usually met. I had just turned 21 and I think I spent more time in their flat than in my dorm room at Oxford."

"You at 21," Willow smiled. "Now that's something I wish I could see." 

"You didn't miss much," he retorted dryly. "I was arrogant and stupid. Ethan and I thought we could do anything together. I mean, don't get me wrong, we could perform some pretty advanced spells back then when we worked together, but we had no idea the level of power we were invoking."

"It kind of sounds like when Tara and I first started doing magic together. By ourselves we weren't much, but together we could do just about anything."

Their food arrived and they both dug in while Giles continued. 

"Exactly so. Ethan and I were really like Mutt and Jeff, wreaking havoc on the shadier parts of London. And so many nights…" he trailed off, letting Willow finish the sentence in her mind. 

"Oh…" surprise lit her face. "I didn't realize…"

"Well, it's not something that I generally advertise," he smiled sheepishly. 

"You know, I didn't 'know' know…but I knew there was something more there, beneath the surface. Every time he's come to Sunnydale, you're emotions around him have been really intense. Ok, mostly violently intense, but intense just the same."

"We were best friends for the better part of a year. And when we would perform the rituals with Eyghon, we would fall into a hazy tangle of limbs and pleasure. The first time we were both a little shocked by what we had done, and frankly a little embarrassed. I had never considered myself gay by any stretch of the imagination. But with Ethan, it was different." Giles finished off his third glass of wine and took a deep breath. "I don't know if it was the magicks or just my connection with him specifically, but we let the intimacy continue, sometimes with magic, sometimes without."

"You loved him, didn't you?"  If anyone, Willow understood the existence of unconventional relationships. Giles sighed and gave her question some thought. Finally, he replied. 

"I think so, in a way. Even back then Ethan was wild and constantly engaged in things that gave me pause. We fought quite a bit, actually. After Randall was taken whole and killed by Eyghon, I had had enough of the dark magicks. I told Ethan that we needed to stop or we would all find ourselves in pine boxes. He finally became sick of my 'goodie goodie attitude' and we had a rather large falling out."

"He broke it off with you?"

"Well," Giles frowned. "Actually, first we beat the living hell out of each other and then when I started to get the better of him he told me that we were through as friends and as whatever else we were. He didn't actually mean it. He just wanted to distract me enough to give me another good wallop, but I took his words to heart and left."

"Where did you go?"

"Back to Oxford. My father was able to talk to some inside contacts that happened to have ties with the Council. So, I buckled down and began taking my Watcher responsibilities seriously for once."

"But what about Ethan? Did he just leave you alone?"

"For a while I didn't see or hear anything from him. I have to admit that I missed him terribly, but I also knew that it was for the best because he would always bring trouble and chaos to my life. But one night, about a month after I returned to school, he showed up on my doorstep."

"He's still big with the dropping in unexpectedly."

"And he probably will be to the day he dies. But that night he was in a bad way. He came knocking on my dormitory window, shaking badly. He told me that he had tried to stop using magic so that we could be together. I let him climb into my room and just held him for a long while. I had gone through the same withdrawal alone, only weeks before."

Willow knew that feeling more intimately than she wished she did. She nodded for Giles to continue. 

"I really do think that he was sincere at first. But he just couldn't resist the temptation of casting again. I think it was because we were together, and old habits do die hard…And I was weak too. Seeing him brought up all of those needs for the pleasure and the magic. He began to cast a spell on me, of the, ah, sexual variety," he blushed and poured another glass of wine for the two of them. Willow joined him, taking a large swallow. "I know I could have stopped him, but I didn't want to at the time. Anyway, the next morning as we lay together in a tangle of naked limbs, my father walked into my dorm room without knocking."

"Oh my Goddess," Willow felt for him. Her parents still had no clue to this day that she liked women. If her father had walked in on her and Tara, well, that would have been more of a mess than she wanted to think about. "What did he say?"

"He had a heart attack," Giles said simply. 

"Literally?" Willow's own heart clenched.

"Yes," for the first time that night Giles removed his glasses and began to clean them. "And I thought he was faking…and so I just lay there, not moving, not helping, just tossing clever retorts at him from inside my haze of dark magic. I don't think it was seeing me and Ethan together as lovers that made his blood pressure climb, it was the blackness in my eyes from the magic that sent him over the edge. And I didn't know that he was really dying until it was too late to save him."

For the first time, Willow realized the depth of Giles' issues with magic. When he saw her delving deeper than she should, he wasn't being stodgy, he was telling her from experience that she needed to be careful, trying to save her from the mistakes he knew intimately. 

"It must have been hard for you to tell me that story," Willow squeezed his hand and looked into his eyes with pure understanding.

"Not as hard as living with the truth," his eyes held a far off look, probably seeing things again that had been buried for the past 20 years. 

"Giles, look at me," she ordered softly. Slowly, he complied, his eyes finally focusing on hers. "I know I'm not going to be able to convince you that it's not your fault. Because you are as insufferably stubborn as I am," to this he let the corners of his eyes crinkle. "But I want you to know that I'm the last person that's going to sit in judgment over you on this."

"You're not, eh, 'freaked out'?" he mimicked Buffy's slang. 

"After living on the Hellmouth for my entire life, do you really think that a homosexual relationship and some black magic are going to freak me out? Come on Giles," she smirked her adorable smirk while he inwardly cringed at the word homosexual, but let it slide without comment. She wasn't exactly wrong, he knew. Besides, the wine was starting to have its intended effect and nothing seemed worth fretting over. 

For the next hour, the two talked about everything under the sun, chatting intimately, enjoying their private time. Together, they polished off another bottle of wine, their dinners, and shared a delicious mousse dessert.

"I truly think that shoclate is better than sex," Willow proclaimed has she took her final bite. 

"Oh, no, then you're just not doing it right," Giles waved his fork at her. Thankfully he had paid the bill, and now all he worried about was finding their way back to the mansion successfully. 

"Scuse me, but I'm actually quite talented in that area, mister," she waved her fork back, engaging him in a mock sword fight. 

"Oh, I'm sure you are," his eyelids dropped to half mast as he stared at the woman he loved, "but there's a lot to be said for plain old experience my dear." He stood, extended his hand and helped her to the door. Interestingly, the floor seemed to rock for them both. But they made it to the door without much of a scene. As they left the tiny dining room they both caught the waitress commenting to the bartender that they were ok because they were just walking down the street. 

Willow nuzzled into his side as they walked in a jagged line down the sidewalk. Giles stopped abruptly, not sure if they were headed in the right direction. 

"I think it's that way," Willow pointed vaguely in the other direction.

"Why do you think that?" he looked around, perplexed. 

"Can't you feel them?" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Whoa!" the world started to tilt, but luckily Giles caught her in time before she fell. Once he got her steadied, he grounded himself and tried to feel what Willow was referring to. He was surprised to find that he could sense the coven. She was right; they were in the other direction. 

He was about to turn and head towards the mansion when he felt something else, something closer. It was actually coming from Willow. He felt it, a small bud of feeling welling inside of her. It felt nice and warm and sacred. She looked up at him with surprise at herself. In the moonlight he looked so dashing that he took her breath away. Tonight had been wonderful beyond the telling of it for her. She touched his shirt near his heart and felt it quicken beneath her fingers. 

"I love you Giles," her voice was so low that he heard it in his mind more than with his ears. But he heard it just the same. He felt as if his heart would burst at hearing those words coming from her lips. He did the only think he could think of. He pulled her close and kissed her tenderly at first, which quickly became passionate. As they parted, hungry for air as they were for each other he leaned in next to her ear and said in a husky voice,

"I love you too Willow."


End file.
